Opening device for cans and similar containers provided with twist lids

ABSTRACT

An opener in the form of a pair of tongs for cans, jars and similar containers provided with twist lids, which includes two leg members presenting handle portions and jaw portions, wherein one jaw portion is adapted to be applied to the surface of the container, while the other is brought to bear against the lid, and wherein the leg members are so connected that slight pressure on the handle members causes the lid to rotate relative to the body of the container.

United States Patent 72] lnventor lvar Alvar Asp [561 References Cited Storbergsliden l5, Sollentuna, Sweden UNITED STATES PATENTS [2]] Appl. No.

2 $22 222 21222 ms" at 2:42-22 Paemed "1971 2 055 854 9/1936 Stibbe 81/3 44 Priority June 5 1967 3 3] Primary Examiner-Lester M. Swingle [3] Assistant Examiner-Roscoe V. Parker, .lr

Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller and Mosher [54] OPENING DEVICE FOR CANS AND SIMILAR ABSTRACT A opener in the form of a pair of tongs for cans, s fi z g z WITH TWIST Lms jars and similar containers provided with twist lids, which ing cludes two leg members presenting handle portions and jaw [52] 11.8. CI 81/336 portions, wherein one jaw portion is adapted to be applied to [51] Int. Cl. B67b 7/18, the surface of the container, while the other is brought to bear B25b 13/48 against the lid, and wherein the leg members are so connected [50] Field of Search 81 /3.36, that slight pressure on the handle members causes the lid to rotate relative to the body of the container.

Patented May 4, 1971 INVENTOR Ivar River Hsp ATTOR NEYj OPENING DEVICE FOR CANS AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS PROVIDED WITII TWIST LIDS The present invention is concerned with a device for opening cans and similar containers which aresealed with a twist lid.

Twist lid closures have been found extremely practical for cans or similar containers intended to contain such goods as preserved foodstuff, paint, medicines etc., since they provide a positive and durable sealing of the goods enclosed therein, against the effect of the surrounding atmosphere and microorganisms.

As a result of the friction between lid and container and the pressure acting on the sealing ring of the lid it requires a considerable force, however, to loosen the lid when the container is opened for the first time.

Although a number of lid openers has been presented to the art during past years none of the suggested openers has provided a perfect solution to the aforementioned difficulty. The lid openers known to the art are generally based on the principle whereby the container is held against rotation and the lid twisted with the help of a lid opener, which is only applied to the lid itself. In the case of this type of lid opener the periphery of the lid is usually gripped by relatively sharp friction means, which unfortunately often results in sharp burrs and deformation of the lid, which may cause injury to the fingers when the lid is later replaced manually, or which may render the lid unusuable for continued sealing purposes after the container has been opened initially.

Furthermore, it is usually necessary to develop manually a considerable retaining movement on the container itself, in order that said container may be twisted relative to the lid. The container is often relatively smooth and slippery, e.g. if made of glass, which makes it difficult to hold the container against the rotation of the lid. These disadvantages, however, are circumvented by means of the invention, which is mainly characterized in that the opener is in the form of a pair of tongs comprising two legs, each presenting a handle portion and a jaw portion, the jaw portions being so positioned that the one jaw portion can be brought into position of engagement with the container and the second into position for engagement with the lid, and means connecting the jaw portions and adapted to force said portions against the container and lid, respectively, at essentially diametrically opposed positions, said means permitting movement of the jaw portions towards each other, substantially in the peripheral direction of the lid and the container.

It is possible by applying a relatively small force to the handle portions of the device according to the invention to produce the torque necessary to loosen the lid from the container, with one and the same tool.

The invention will now be described more specifically, with reference to an embodiment of the same shown diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing, wherein further features characteristic of the invention will be disclosed in conjunction therewith.

FIG. 1 shows in side view a conventional glass preserving jar, chosen by way of example only, a twist lid firmly secured thereon and a tonglike opener according to the invention shown, partly in section, attached to the container and the lid, respectively, in preparation for twisting the lid so as to loosen the same on the container.

FIG. 2 is plan view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a view, partly in section, of the inside of the one leg of the opener.

FIG. 4 shows the inside of the other leg ofthe opener.

FIG. 5 shows a section of FIG. 3 in enlarged scale.

FIG. 6 shows a section of FIG. 2 in enlarged scale.

With particular reference to FIGS. I and 2, the drawing shows a preserving jar 10, and a twist lid 11 securely attached on said jar.

Fitted against the jar and the lid is a tonglike opener according to the invention, which mainly comprises two leg members, indicated generally by the reference numerals 12 and 13. The one leg 12 comprises a jaw portion 14 and a handle portion 15, while the second leg 13 presents a jaw portion 16 and a handle portion 17.

The two leg members are mutually held together and fixed in operative position with their jaw portions 14 and 16 against the lid 11 and the jar 10, respectively, by means of a screw clamp, generally indicated at 18. The screw clamp primarily comprises an L-shaped, screwbolt which is rotatably or pivotally mounted at its one end 19 in the jaw portion 16 of the leg 13, while the other threaded end 20 of said bolt is passed displaceably through a stirrup-shaped runner 21 or the like, which is best seen in the enlarged view in FIG. 6. A wing nut 22 is threaded on the threaded end 20 and intended to be tightened against the one stirrup-leg member 23 of the runner 21. The runner is, in other respects, rotatably or pivotally connected with the jaw portion 14 by a pin 24, the axis of which pin is positioned eccentrically in relation to the axis of the screw bolt 18, and positioned on that side of the bolt remote from the handle portions I5 and 17 of the legs of the tonglike opening device.

Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 5, the threaded portion 20 of the screwbolt 18 is suitably of nonround cross section and passes through complementary shaped openings 25 in the end walls of the runner 21. In this manner relative rotation between the runner 21 and the bolt 18 is prevented, which facilitates the operation of applying the opener in operative position.

It should also be observed that each of the jaw portions presents an arcuate engagement surface, intended to be brought to bear against the lid and container, respectively. Each jaw portion 14 and I6 is provided with a suitable mounting recess or the like 26 and 27, respectively, in which is retained an arcuate, flexible friction means made, for instance, of a plastic or rubber material, etc. shown more clearly in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, where these members are indicated by the reference numeral 28 and 29, respectively.

Subsequent to having placed the opener on the container with the jaw portion 14 in plane with the lid and the jaw portion 16 positioned in a plane below the lid and against the container, and the wing nut 22 has been sufficiently tightened, the opener is anchored to the container and the lid, the flexible friction means yieldingly conforming to the shape of the surfaces against which they lie.

By moving the handle portions 15 and 17 towards each other the lid 11 is positively rotated loose from the container, without it being necessary to apply too great a force to the handle portions. Because the runner is mounted eccentrically at the jaw portion 14 an additional force is obtained on the flexible friction means, which are forced to yield further until the pivot pin has passed the diametrical plane of the lid. The slight twisting movement performed thereby is so effective that even the most tightly, attached lid is loosened immediately.

The invention is not restricted to the shown and described embodiment of the same, but can be varied within the scope of the following claims. Thus, the clamp may be adjustable within such limits that the jaw portions are capable of being adjusted to engage twist lids and containers of widely varying dimension. Further, it is possible according to the invention to adopt such measures that rotation of the runner relative to its associated jaw portion is restricted, e.g. by providing the arrangement with stop means 30.

Iclaim:

1. An opener for jars and like containers provided with screw lids, comprising two handles, each having at one end thereof an arcuately curved jaw member provided with a resilient gripping surface, said handles being connected together by a transversely extending link means pivotally mounted to the jaws and maintaining said jaws in different planes which are parallel with respect to each other, said link means having along a portion of its length a screw thread which passes freely through a runner which is pivotally mounted on one of said jaws and the pivot point of which is offset in relation to the long axis of said link means, said and the transversally extending link means pivotally connected thereto form a screw clamp adapted to be applied to the lid and container at essentially diametrically opposed positions.

4. An opener according to claim 1, wherein said opener is adjustable to fit lids of different sizes. 

1. An opener for jars and like containers provided with screw lids, comprising two handles, each having at one end thereof an arcuately curved jaw member provided with a resilient gripping surface, said handles being connected together by a transversely extending link means pivotally mounted to the jaws and maintaining said jaws in different planes which are parallel with respect to each other, said link means having along a portion of its length a screw thread which passes freely through a runner which is pivotally mounted on one of said jaws and the pivot point of which is offset in relation to the long axis of said link means, said pivotal mounting being remote from said handles and the radially external side surface of said runner being in the form of a thrust surface for a pressure-exerting means cooperating with the threaded end of said link means.
 2. An opener according to claim 1, having stop means to limit the pivoting movement of the runner pivot means.
 3. An opener according to claim 1 wherein the jaw members and the transversally extending link means pivotally connected thereto form a screw clamp adapted to be applied to the lid and container at essentially diametrically opposed positions.
 4. An opener according to claim 1, wherein said opener is adjustable to fit lids of different sizes. 